Princeton 0-4 in Ivies for First Time

The Princeton Tigers men's basketball program has been an Ivy League power for over a half a century-between 1992 and 2001, the Tigers won the Ivy League title and made the NCAA tournament six times in a nine-year period. But last season, under the direction of head coach Joe Scott, Princeton suffered its first losing Ivy League season in the last 50 years. Those struggles have carried over into this season, as the Tigers are 0-4 in Ivy League for the first time in the team's history, and they are 9-9 overall.

After going 0-2 this past weekend with a 43-35 loss at Yale (5-1 Ivy) on Friday and a 63-48 loss at Brown (2-4 Ivy) on Saturday, the Tigers find themselves in the not-so-enviable position of being winless after four Ivy League games. Their offense has averaged an anemic 43.5 points per game in league play, and no player on the roster is averaging more than 9.2 points per game this year.

Given the Princeton tradition of basketball excellence, the rough start this year is perplexing. While the Tigers certainly don't have the athletic talent of Duke University or University of North Carolina, their historical dominance over their conference opposition is incomparable. Between 1967 and 1996-under the guidance of then-head coach Pete Carril-Princeton went an amazing 514-261, an accomplishment made all the more impressive by the fact that Carril assembled his teams without using athletic scholarships for his players.

In addition to its illustrious winning tradition, Princeton is also famous for pioneering a style of basketball universally known as the Princeton Offense. This type of offense utilizes constant player movement, passing, cuts to the basket, and teamwork. The fact that the Princeton Offense has spread to larger programs such as Georgetown, North Carolina State, University of Southern California, and Northwestern is a testament to the impact that Princeton and its winning tradition has had on the game. But despite these traditions and innovations, this year's Princeton team has been unable to find an answer to its offensive woes.

Part of Princeton's struggles can be attributed to its relative youth and inexperience at key positions. Much like Columbia, the Tigers are a fairly young team, featuring a starting backcourt of a pair of freshmen guards in Lincoln Gunn and Marcus Schroeder. Further hurting the Tigers is that their veteran leadership has not played to their potential, as Princeton seniors Justin Conway and Luke Owings have been largely ineffective in Ivy League play. With a young nucleus and shaky senior leadership, the Tigers rank last in the league in point differential, field goal percentage, rebounding, assists, and blocks.

Another thing that has hurt the Tigers is the lack of a go-to player on offense. With no players averaging double figures in points, the Tigers tend to struggle down the stretch in close games. This was seen in games against Yale and Columbia earlier this season. Since Princeton plays a pass heavy motion offense, its points are typically dispersed fairly evenly, however, and in close games, especially conference games, the ability to have one player carry the team down the stretch can be invaluable.

With home games this weekend against Harvard (3-3 Ivy) and Dartmouth (2-4 Ivy), Princeton has a chance to salvage its sinking Ivy League season and get its first league win. But the Tigers must find a quick solution to their offensive maladies if that is to happen.